The speed and extent of the overhaul of attacking options undertaken by Aston Villa during the January transfer window was startling.
But it was also necessary.
After rejecting all interest in Jhon Duran last summer, the Midlands side elected to cash in on the 21-year-old Colombian, selling him to Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr for £64 million on the last day of the month.
The former DC United standout had provided some of the most spectacular moments of Villa’s season so far, delivering serval long-range goals as his made the most of limited game time to notch seven times in just 627 Premier League minutes.
Duran had been pushing to usurp Ollie Watkins – who was the subject of a failed January bid from Arsenal – as the first-choice striker at Villa Park. But such a sizeable return for a player who – while evidently talented – was uncomfortably public in his desire to either immediately replace Watkins or else leave represented sound business.
However, coupled with the departure of the sparsely used Jaden Philogene – who was sold to Ipswich for £20 million – this left Villa short of attacking options.
Versatile Dutch forward Donyell Malen had arrived from Borussia Dortmund for £21 million, but that addition alone would have left Unai Emery’s side in a net talent deficit for the mid-season window.
And that would have been a deficit difficult to overcome. The Villa attack was already an issue. They currently rank 13th in the Premier League for goals scored (33) and ninth for expected goals (xG) with 41.32.
Watkins is their highest league scorer, with 10 goals. Duran was second. Morgan Rogers (six) is the only other Villa player with more than three strikes to his name this term.
So as they juggle Premier League and Champions League campaigns for the first time, it was wise for Villa to further bolster the attacking options at Emery’s disposal in the final hours of the window.
And the signings they made are tantalising.
Their capture of Marcus Rashford from Manchester United on loan – with a £40 million purchase option – was the biggest news of the January window. The 27-year-old England forward had fallen out of new manager Ruben Amorim’s pecking order altogether at Old Trafford.
But, despite a difficult couple of campaigns, he is a player of a calibre to which Villa were not able to aspire in previous years.
Likewise Marco Asensio, who has come in from Paris Saint-Germain, also on loan. The 29-year-old Spain star had started only eight Ligue 1 games in 2024-25, but his return of six goal involvements (two goals, four assists) from just 620 minutes of action suggests he is still capable of a more-than-useful level of productivity.
What Rashford, Asensio and Malen all provide is an invaluable degree of versatility, with each player able to operate in several positions along the second line of attack or even as a centre-forward.
With a frontline still spearheaded by Watkins but now supplemented by any combination of the three news signings and the supremely gifted and inventive Rogers, Villa instantly become frighteningly unpredictable and a lot more difficult to contain.
Rashford and Malen can both threaten defences in behind from wide areas, while Rogers and Asensio have the ability to score and create centrally.
Where previously Emery’s forward options were limited, with the skillsets of his attackers somewhat overlapping, he is now free to devise fresh ways of constructing his frontline, adjusting for different opponents or tinkering in-game to unpick stubborn defences.
Another element of value the January incomings provide is their Champions League experience. As their domestic form has undulated this term, Villa have outperformed expectations in Europe.
Safely through to the knockout phase of the new Champions League format, they have now positioned themselves to be competitive against any continental opponent.
Rashford often produced his best displays for United in big games, with a strong record against Liverpool in particular. And arguably his best-ever performance for the Red Devils came in a 2-1 victory over Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes in 2020 in which he outplayed Kylian Mbappe en route to scoring an 87th-minute winner.
Malen has 31 Champions League appearances to his name, including an outing for Dortmund against Real Madrid in last season’s final. And Asensio won the competition three times as a Real Madrid player, even scoring in the final in 2017.
But while this trio of new arrivals represent exciting business on serval levels, Villa must also heed a painful lesson from the club’s recent past and not rush too hastily into securing longer-term deals.
When, under Steven Gerrard, they signed Philippe Coutinho on loan from Barcelona in the 2022 January transfer window, there were similar levels of excitement.
Just as is the case with the additions of Rashford and Asensio now, the Brazilian’s signing appeared to signal that Villa were able to hunt for bigger game in the transfer market that ever before.
And Coutinho initially impressed, at least enough to convince the club to part with £18 million to make his switch from the Catalan giants permanent the following summer.
But he quickly became and expensive albatross as his performances levels crashed. A forgotten figure at Villa Park amid the joyous rise of the Emery era, he is still on the club’s books, currently on loan with Vasco da Gama in his homeland.
There are parallels to be drawn between where Coutinho was in his career at the point he joined Villa and the juncture at which Rashford and Asensio both now find themselves – once highly prized young stars at huge clubs who, as they enter their late 20s, have begun to trace a downward trajectory.
They can be reclamation projects for Villa, who are hoping to have invested in a stock that will rise again, propelling the club to new heights in the Champions League.
But they must also beware the Coutinho crash.
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